Netflix (NFLX) has begun its long-rumored crackdown on password sharing, and your former college roommate who’s been mooching off your account for years is not pleased.
After more than a decade of explosive growth, the streaming giant had a tough 2022, it infamously lost 200,000 global subscribers in the three months of the year, bringing its total subscriber number down to just over 221 million.
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Netflix managed to stop the bleeding by the end of ‘22, adding 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2022, well ahead of the projected million. The company also, after years of insisting this would never happen, introduced a cheaper, advertising-supported tier, much to Twitter’s bemusement.
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Netflix Is Trying To Find New Customers
Netflix didn’t have the best ‘22, but it’s trying a surprising approach to getting its numbers back up.In an effort to boost its subscriber totals, the company has lowered its prices in more than 100 markets worldwide, including in Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In total, those regions include "Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Kenya, Iran, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Slovenia and Bulgaria," Variety reports.
The actual price points vary, but in some markets the subscriber fee has been chopped in half. Netflix raised prices in North America and Western Europe at the beginning of last year, and has not indicated that a price reduction is in the cards.
In an earnings call earlier this year, Greg Peters, Netflix’s new co-CEO, said “when you think about the pricing question… we want to make that spectrum even wider as we seek to serve more members around the world in trying to deliver appropriate value at those different price points.
“And we’re doing a good job expanding that range… There’s a bunch of people around the world in countries where we’re not deeply penetrated, and we have more opportunities to go attract them.”
Is Netflix Losing Subscribers?
Netflix has been on a volatile path over the past several months after years of proven success. It did end 2022 with over 230 million subscribers worldwide, but continues to lose market share. The "why," depends on who you ask, as everyone in the industry has a different opinion.
Inflation is likely a big factor, as families keep a closer eye on their budgets these days. Increased competition in the streaming marketplace is also a probable culprit, as film and TV fans increasingly feel like there’s too many platforms these days and no one has the time or money for them all.
Some analysts wonder if streaming has transitioned into a more mature market after its explosive growth in the ‘10s, and perhaps Netflix has hit a natural ceiling. At this point, post-pandemic, anyone who was interested in trying the platform has probably done so by now. Time will tell if this is really the case.
Or perhaps people feel like Netflix just has too much stuff, and its approach of making a million shows and films and hope people like at least some of them isn’t working anymore.
